With the second half of the Big 12 Conference season underway, the Missouri women’s basketball team (10-10, 0-9 Big 12) hosted No. 1 ranked Baylor (22-0, 9-0 Big 12) on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena. Although the score was not as high as their previous encounter (a 90-46 Baylor win Jan. 4 in Waco, Texas), the Tigers were still unable to earn a victory, falling to the Bears 71-41.
From tip-off it was apparent that the Tigers had a specific game plan set for Baylor, not even competing for the opening tip-off. Early on, the Tigers heavily defended Big 12 player of the week center Brittney Griner, forcing the Bears to move the ball to arc, all while relying on their three-point shooting to keep the game close.
The strategy appeared to be working, as the Bears only scored 13 points in the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the offense wasn’t responding to the opportunities, shooting 2-for-9 on three pointers, 8-for-24 on field goals and having a seven-minute scoring drought midway through the half.
The offense finally found life with five minuets left, leaving the Tigers down only 28-18 at half.
The second half belonged almost entirely to the Bears, who started the half with a 24-5 run in the first seven minutes.The Tigers struggled to keep the game within 30 for the final 10 minutes, and by the final five minutes most of the starters for both teams had been pulled out.
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said she was confident in her squad’s scouting report entering the contest.
“We have seen it all,” Mulkey said. “I told the kids in the scouting report, ‘Expect two post players who can shoot the three to take you outside. Expect them to shorten the game, keep it low scoring and just be patient on defense. Be disciplined on defense in the last 10 seconds of the shot clock. You’re going to see a zone.’ Everything I told them came true tonight.”
The Baylor defense managed to prevent any of the Tigers from reaching double digits in scoring. Missouri junior guard Sydney Crafton led the team with eight points, five assists and five rebounds, while the stat-leading senior forwards Christine Flores and BreAnna Brock were held to 15 points combined.
Four Baylor players scored in the double digits, led by Griner with 18 points.
Missouri coach Robin Pingeton was not distraught by the loss.
“I give Baylor a ton credit,” Pingeton said. “They turned a 12-point game into a 25-point game in a matter of minutes. In the first half, we weathered the storm, we competed and battled and clawed back … the first four minutes of that second half has been a struggle of ours and we need to find out how to adjust. We need to come out stronger in the gates in the second half.”
One of the contributing factors to the Tigers’ loss was turnovers, of which they had 22 compared to Baylor’s nine. This was the fifth game this season where the Tigers had more than 20 turnovers. Brock addressed the turnover frustrations after the game.
“To be honest, we are not allowed to get frustrated because that causes deflation,” Brock said. “We know we can’t do to get that turnover and we can change that. We can do what we can.”
The Tigers will continue their hunt for a conference win when they travel to play Texas Tech on Sunday and return Feb. 8 to Mizzou Arena to host Iowa State.